Chapter 83
[ 1,059 words ]
Chapter 84
The throne room shimmered around us, shadows folding in as I stepped down from the obsidian dais. Xavier’s hand never left mine, his touch grounding me like frost to flame. I turned to Layah, who stretched lazily beside her throne, her smirk promising chaos if I hesitated even a breath longer.
“Let’s go,” I said softly, but the magic behind it snapped like a command. The air cracked. A portal bloomed open and we stepped through together.
The Underworld fell away and my mother’s kingdom rose before us. The familiar warmth of my mother’s domain wrapped around us like silk spun from sunlight and starlight. Unlike the molten dark of my throne room, Elira’s court was carved from crystalline trees and breathy clouds, suspended in impossible harmony above the land below.
Mum stood waiting, her gaze sharp. Beside her, my grandmother….Madra sat on a throne made of flowering roots, eyes half–lidded in watchful disapproval…or maybe amusement. I could never quite tell with her. She’s…complicated. I have to wonder if most witches are like this.
“Mum,” I greeted, my voice cool but not cold. “Grandmother p>
“Elira,” Noah said with a sharp nod. Layah just gave a cheeky look before flopping onto one of the velvet–cushioned benches nearby. She had soot on her neck and a scratch down one arm, but she looked smug about it.
“You’ve grown into your role,” Elira said slowly, scanning me and the men at my back. Her eyes lingered on Layah, then returned to mine. “The throne fits you. ”
“It better, ” I said, voice even. “I’m kind of stuck with it p>
That earned a small huff of laughter from Grandmother. “You’ve tamed your deathless hounds, I see p>
“ Mostly,” Layah said, teeth flashing.
I stepped forward, conjuring a flicker of magic between my hands, soft and dangerous like the edge of a blade. “We need to talk p>
Mum’s smile faded. “What is it? ”
I sighed, “The veil between the realms it’s thinning faster than predicted. Cracks are forming. Not just energy or spirit, physical things are seeping through. Grass. Breezes. Sunlight. In the Underworld p>
Grandmother straightened slightly at that, eyes sharpening. “The realms aren’t supposed to touch like that. Light corrodes death p>
“Well, it is,” I said. “and I’m going to need to find a way to stop it before things start seeping out here. I’m not sure you all want hell fire up
here p>
“And the souls?” Mum asked.
“Restless,” I answered. “They’re acting strange, as if they know that freedom is close. I’ve already had to send guards after the corrupted p>
Levi’s eyes gleamed. “Some were calling to something. Chanting. Like they’d found some sort of religion in the rot
Haiden frowned. “We had anomalies in the intake. Data glitches. Entire clusters skipping assessment p>
“Someone’s tampering,” Xavier said softly, his voice like a breath of shadow across my shoulder.
Layah growled low, pacing like the beast beneath her skin was close to surfacing. “Or something. Either way, it’s not good p>
Noah stepped forward, the ash still clinging to his jacket like a second skin. “It’s going to bring down hell…or earth p>
Mum turned away for a moment, her fingers tightening around the edge of her desk.. “This shouldn’t be happening. Not yet p>
Yet?” i echoed sharply.
Grandmother gave a sigh that sounded like falling sand. “There were prophecies tall finished riddles from the old Oracles. The day when the realms would be without veils. When death would breathe and life would decay. We always thought it symbolic p>
1:03 PM P
Chapter 84
I looked around at all of them, my mates, my hellhound, my blood.
“This isn’t symbolism,” I said. “It’s happening. And if we don’t stop it, the Veil won’t just crack. It will shatter p>
Layah stepped to my side, her presence a warning to the world. Mum nodded once, her face a mask of resolve. “Then it’s time to put a stop to this p>
The silence that followed was thick enough to drown in, but in that silence, we all understood the truth. Whatever came next, the world would never be the same again.
02
“I want to see it,” Madra said, eyes narrowed as she leaned forward in her seat.
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it didn’t need to be. It carried, like wind over tombstones. Still and sharp.
I met her gaze. “You don’t trust me p>
“Oh, I trust you, girl,” she said, standing slowly, every inch of her wrapped in layered silks and quiet menace. “But I trust my eyes more.” A tense beat passed.
Then I nodded. “Very well. You’ll see it p>
Xavier stepped forward immediately, his shadows rising like a tide in the corners of the room. “We shouldn’t… ”
“She’s coming,” I cut in firmly. “She needs to see and feel it for herself p>
Grandmother smiled, thin and wolfish. “Smart girl p>
Layah chuckled. “You’re going to love the pits. ”
“I’ve seen worse,” she muttered, brushing off her sleeves. “Try raising three royal children while an empire collapses p>
Haiden smothered a grin. “Sounds more terrifying than Levi’s pod hotel p>
Levi didn’t look up from his book. “It’s a beautiful hotel p>
The portal opened on a cracked ledge overlooking the Valley of the Lost. Ash swirled below, and somewhere in the distance, a soul screamed. Madra stepped out beside me, blinking once at the red–hued horizon. The air was heavy with grief and iron, the scent of memories that couldn’t quite let go. She stood very still.
“Well, here we are,” I said. “It’s leaking. Reality is bleeding in.” I pointed out the breeze in the trees and the light in the sky that shouldn’t be there.
She knelt slowly, running fingers over the dry stone beneath our feet. “This is strange… ”
“ Come,” i said. “There’s more p>
I led her through the paths, past the waiting pods. She said nothing as we passed a boy whose pod was filled with feathers, another whose pod was dark but for a floating key. In Haiden’s waiting room, she paused before a soul wrapped in glass threads, whispering to itself in a forgotten Longue, and in Noah’s basement, she did not flinch. Even when the cages moaned. Even when the fire trembled. She simply turned to me, eyes gleaming, and said, “You were right. I can feel it. The veil is cracking p>
I told you. ” Layah huffed.
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